FINDING PEACE DURING A PANDEMIC AT A SMALL OASIS IN LAUREL SPRINGS, NJ
The birding adventures of professional New Jersey Field Guide Lloyd Shaw span the southern end of the Garden State, with Cape May a prime destination for the popular forays he normally leads during Spring Migration. Sheltering in place since mid-March, however, the 64-year-old naturalist has been happily counting birds solo at aspirational Whitman Woods. The 3.75-acre woodland oasis is a rare remnant of the now near-relic native Inner Coastal Plain Forest. Located just a few blocks from Shaw’s Laurel Springs home, it is the site of a NALT collaboration.
Shaw likes to think that he is following in Poet Walt Whitman’s legendary footsteps. Whitman, a winter resident of Camden City, famously sought renewal here along Big Timber Creek over many consecutive summers in the twilight of his life. He took great joy in walking the creek bank (now Laurel Lake), counting birds, taking mud baths and studying the passing clouds. Indeed, the influences of the Natural World Whitman encountered here between 1876 and 1882 resonate through the centuries in his most legendary works, primarily Specimen Days and portions of Leaves of Grass.
During the current pandemic, many city and suburb dwellers following stay-at-home guidelines have similarly followed Whitman’s lead, curing cabin fever by seeking solace and sunshine in nearby local parks. Birding and hiking can be tonics for the soul at anytime, but especially now.
As a member of the Whitman Woods Project Advisory Board and a native “Springer,” Shaw is intimately acquainted with the Laurel Springs site that, with adequate funding, will be preserved by NALT as a passive park. His daily visits since mid-April have yielded 91 species thus far. He even camped out during the height of Spring Migration. To date, Shaw’s “Big Day” was May 15 (also Endangered Species Day) when he spotted 60 species over 24 hours. Among the tally that includes a Bald Eagle, he says seeing 11 species of wood warblers (colorful little songsters) and 2 shorebird species (mining the mud 50 miles west of the Atlantic Ocean) was arguably most unusual. Yet most moving was the choral recital. “To be treated to such a symphony of beautiful birdsong on my home turf, even if just for a short interlude, was extraordinary,” Shaw enthuses. “Hearing tanagers, thrushes, flycatchers, vireos, warblers and so many others singing simultaneously was truly wondrous, even miraculous, considering the location.”
Lying 15 miles due east of Philadelphia in Camden County and just south of the densely developed Route 30 corridor, “Whitman Woods” is considered a “green island” in an urban/suburban landscape. Comprised of a soaring canopy of oak, beech, poplar and black walnut, crisscrossed with timeworn footpaths and blessed with water resources, the site possesses the desired ambiance for a passive park.
Indeed, this private land has been considered a park in all but name for the past 50 years. Area residents seek sanctuary here. Children experience wildlife here, recite poetry here, draw and paint here. Canoes are launched here. Naturalists bird here. Shutterbugs document Nature here. Peace is found here.
As wild places yield to development, and as scientists grapple with the connection between the disruption of natural ecosystems, habitat destruction, wildlife trade and the COVID-19 pandemic, our mission to conserve and restore North America’s natural and cultural landscapes, for present and future generations is more important than ever.
Although the pandemic’s root causes may seem far removed, we are reminded that habitat destruction can have a health cost, too. The CDC recognizes that “staying physically active is one of the best ways to keep your mind and body healthy.” Communing with nature also gives us time for reflection, which Whitman found integral to penning his celebrated free verse.
Shaw is reflective. “I’m so happy to have these woods so nearby. It’s my hope that people will come to realize the importance of having nature close to home. Tangible and accessible and centering — not just as a remote destination that requires a day trip. We’ve all found comfort in nature over the last two months. What does that tell you about coping in times like these? Hopefully, we can all hold onto our newfound love of nature. Let that be the new normal!”
To save the site from development, funding “Whitman Woods” is most urgent because the depleted irrevocable trust that holds the land is facing dissolution. NALT stewardship/ownership will be a profoundly organic conservation solution for the last significant parcel of undeveloped woodland along a lakeshore where Whitman found enduring inspiration. Help save this oasis by making a donation here.
-By Whitman Woods Project Manager Elizabeth Smith (projectmanager@whitmanwoods.org)
To learn more about the Whitman Woods project, you can:
- Visit www.whitmanwoods.org.
- Like Whitman Woods’ Project Facebook page.
- Read more on our website.
- Download this fact sheet.
